By Katie Vasquez
December 15 marked a joyful celebration at St. Catherine of Genoa Church in East Flatbush, Brooklyn as the faithful returned to the pews after a fire forced them out of their church for months. On August 23 of this year flames from construction tore through the church causing damage.
Since then, longtime parishioner Marjorie Viola Edwards-Patron was counting down the days until she could sit in a church pew again.
“We are back. We are back,” she tells Currents News. “Praise the Lord, praise the Lord.”
She and fellow parishioners also give thanks to a visiting priest – Father Adrien Ntwa – who smelled smoke and called 9-1-1.
“Everybody was here, but all because of Father Adrian,” says Edwards-Patron. “God works through good people.”
Parishioners and even visitors from as far as New Jersey sent donations for repairs which included a total renovation of the sacristy, a new sound system, and a repainted ceiling.
While the church was undergoing renovations, Mass was celebrated in the parish hall. Pastor Raphael Munday says the reopening of St. Catherine of Genoa feels like a true homecoming.
“Our home of faith away from home,” he calls it. “It’s truly a great feeling to come back inside the church.”
Bishop Robert Brennan celebrated the 11 am Mass on Dec. 15 with a packed church of 300 people, welcoming his flock back and blessing the space.
“This is a strong and a resilient community. And, sometimes the tough things in life give us an opportunity to renew ourselves,” he explains.
During this time of Advent Bishop Brennan says it’s a reminder of God’s miracles: “Rejoice in the Lord always, not just when things are good and going well, but in times of trouble.”
These Brooklynites are happy that their prayers have been answered.
“This is the house of God,” parishioner Jeanette King tells Currents News. “I mean, I know God is in us, with us all the time, but here is where we fellowship together, we get together. “